万物简史 第395期:浩瀚的海洋(14)

 　　As for what else was down there, people really had very little idea. 至于水下还有别的什么东西，人们实际上知道得很少。

　　Well into the 1950s, the best maps available to oceanographers were overwhelmingly based on a little detail from scattered¹ surveys going back to 1929 直到20世纪50年代，海洋学家们所能见到的最佳海图，主要是根据1929年以来零星勘测所获得的一点儿资料，

　　grafted² onto, essentially³ an ocean of guesswork. 再加上一点儿必不可少的猜测绘制的，

　　The Navy had excellent charts with which to guide submarines through canyons⁴ and around guyots, 美国海军有着良好的海图，用来引导潜艇通过峡谷和绕过平顶海山，

　　but it didn't wish such information to fall into Soviet⁵ hands, so it kept its knowledge classified. 但它不希望这些资料落入苏联人之手，所以对它的信息加以保密。

　　Academics therefore had to make do with sketchy⁶ and antiquated⁷ surveys or rely on hopeful surmise⁸. 于是学术界人士不得不将就着使用简单而又陈旧的海图，或者满怀希望地依拉猜测。

　　Even today our knowledge of the ocean floors remains⁹ remarkably¹⁰ low resolution. 即使到了今天，我们对海床的了解仍然甚少。

　　If you look at the Moon with a standard backyard telescope you will see substantial craters¹¹ 要是你拿起普遍的望远镜看一眼月亮，你会看到大量环形山，

　　Fracastorious, Blancanus, Zach, Planck, and many others familiar to any lunar scientist—that would be unknown if they were on our own ocean floors. 什么弗拉卡斯托罗环形山，什么布兰克环形山，什么扎奇环形山，什么普朗克环形山，以及其他月球科学家们熟悉的环形山。要是它们位于我们自己的海床，我们会对它们一无所知。

　　We have better maps of Mars than we do of our own seabeds. 我们所拥有的火星图，也比我们所拥有的海床图要强。

　　At the surface level, investigative techniques have also been a trifle ad hoc. 在海平面上，勘察技术也一直有点儿马马虎虎。

　　In 1994, thirty-four thousand ice hockey gloves were swept overboard from a Korean cargo¹² ship during a storm in the Pacific. 1994年，一条韩国船在太平洋上遇到风暴，34000则只冰球运动手套被刮到海里。

　　The gloves washed up all over, from Vancouver to Vietnam, helping¹³ oceanographers to trace currents more accurately¹⁴ than they ever had before. 从温哥华到越南，海面上到处漂着手套，倒使海洋学家们比以往任何时候都能更精确地找到洋疏的流动方向。

　　Today Alvin is nearly forty years old, but it still remains America's premier¹⁵ research vessel¹⁶. 今天，“阿尔文”号快到四十大寿，但它仍是世界上首屈一指的研究船只。

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 grafted   

移植( graft的过去式和过去分词 )； 嫁接； 使（思想、制度等）成为（…的一部份）； 植根

参考例句：

• No art can be grafted with success on another art. 没有哪种艺术能成功地嫁接到另一种艺术上。
• Apples are easily grafted. 苹果树很容易嫁接。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

7 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

8 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

11 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

15 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

16 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。